I am an English teacher and Creative Writing teacher in the East Bay area of San Francisco. I graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Masters in Writing. I also teach Fiction writing classes in the East Bay. You can find my writing in many fine literary magazines, both on-line and in print. I like to blog about literary magazines and books I'm reading, and also about the act of writing.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Whew! This month went by. I'm reading the O'Henry collection and I am so taken with the short story by Paul Theroux called "Twenty-two Stories." For all you flash fiction writers out there--read it. It's really a collection of very short flashes, which is what I like to do when I write. Finished revising two short stories and sent them out. Lots going on in the Bay Area. Went to Adele Mendhelson and Clive Matson's poetry reading at the Berkeley Art Center Saturday night. Wow. One man sang "Old Man River." Another woman sang from the opera "Carmen." The usual open mic people--David Gollub and few others I know from the now defunct open mic at La Mediterraneum. Ah, the good old days. Sent out some flash pieces today--haven't done that in a while. Thanks to Meg Pokrass for her encouragement. Google her--read here. She's great. She's on decomP right now. Go there. Don't watch my youtube video of me reading my piece "Ten Suggestions for How to Write a Story Based on a Dream." Why? Because I suck. I had to go first. The crowd was not warmed up and I was trying to hard, plus I don't like my hair. Here's a piece of flash about my hair.

How to Get the Same Exact Hair Color That I Have

First go to Target ready to spend ten lousy dollars on a box of hair color. Loreal is the good product. Spend an hour there deciding whether to buy 8G or 9G. Why don't they have an 81/2 G? Go home and wait to color your hair until a half hour before you have to be somewhere important. The box says a half hour. Follow the directions carefully. Shit, you are late. Now you are going to have to live with that orangeyness until tomorrow. The next day--buy the Blonde Highlights Shampoo and Conditioner. Hesitate. Yeah, go ahead. If you want my hair color, follow along exactly. Wash your hair with the shampoo--make sure to leave it on four minutes instead of three. Do the same with the conditioner. Don't look at your hair when you take it out of the towel--that's not quite the color it's going to be. Blowdry it. Now look. Go right to the local drugstore--Walgreens is best because they have a wider selection. Buy that tube of the purple stuff meant to take the "brassiness" out of your hair. Go home and wash with that about eight or nine times...yes, the same day. Wait a week. Give it a rest. Okay, now call the beautician. She will charge you $200 to correct this. Plus a tip. Total Cost for Hair like mine: $250. Yep.Wait, one more. About a week later, go to a different hair dresser and cut it all off. Start over. Write this down and don't forget how to do it because you will do it more than once.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Up this morning with barking dogs. And, went on-line for submissions. Natural Bridge, the literary magazine out of the University of Missouri-St. Louis is accepting work and they have a nice page about the submissions process. Look for it. http://www.umsl.edu/~natural/guidelines/panel.html.

No plans for this day--I thought it was tomorrow--the fourth I mean. I'm glad. Holidays during the summer annoy me. I don't drink or smoke, so I'm stuck with finding stuff to do. If it gets warm, we'll probably go over to the pool and swim, again.

Time to finish the last draft of my Metal Dump story and send it on its way. Same for the Goat Herder story. I'm reading on the 18th in San Francisco at Amnesia. More on this later.

Places for Writers

Jackey

As Is

List Poem: Love

Clean house, makeup, the final line, acceptance letter, SASE, new printer, doodle shapes, picture of blue horses, after great sadness leaves on a tree, full mailbox, city at night, looking down a steep hill, things that come in threes, not too much synchronicity, Police on grammys, forgotten memory card, free stuff, vintage gold dress, riding on aeroplanes, making connections, forgotten ending remembered, a cup of coffee right now, mother voice, losing the last five pounds, summer memories, break, praise in my mouth.

Awards or Semiawards

Semifinalist: Iowa Short Fiction Awards, 2008, Short story collection, Stories I Heard When I Went Home for My Grandmother's Funeral,

Finalist: Black Lawrence Press Hudson Prize 2008, Short story collection, Still Slipping on the Ice.

Finalist: Elixir Press Chapbook Awards 2007, Short-short story collection, I'll Tell You That Story in a Minute.

Finalist: Black Lawrence Press Ontario Prize 2006, Short story collection, Nobody Has to Die for It to Tell You Something.

Semifinalist: University of Iowa Ficition Awards 2005, Short story collection, Nobody Has to Die for It to Tell You Something.